SEA BRIGHT — During this morning's high tide, firefighters rescued two groups of people who had refused the mandatory evacuation order, but who began to panic as the water's rose. One of the two trucks the towns uses for such rescue runs got bogged down in flood waters. Once the winds kick up to 60 miles per hour or so, he said, "people are on their own."

"This thing is the ultimate,'' said C. Read Murphy, a councilman and deputy director of the borough's office of emergency management.

"60 miles per hour, no emergency personnel are going out of here. I'm going to look at this water and we might, ourselves leave here tonight."

Some of the younger firefighters are protesting, Murphy said. "Most of the guys here are young,'' he added. "they really don't have a good grasp or handle on what's going on here."